SOPHIA HAMPTON | 2020 ALUMNI
Yale School of the Environment & Vermont Law School (dual degree) 2025
Sophia received her undergraduate degree from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she concentrated on food systems, animals and the environment. During her college years she worked on regenerative farms in the Hudson Valley, interned with Stone Barns and worked in upscale restaurants in New York City, circumnavigating her fields of interest through real-world experience. After graduating she sought an opportunity to think critically about what she had learned within and without academia, and hone in on her own values before pursuing next-steps in the professional world. Place Corps’ emphasis on independent research contextualized within Hawthorne Valley’s biodynamic farm offered her the opportunity she needed to ground herself intellectually, personally, and professionally.
An image from the tree-planting at Hawthorne Valley led by Sophia Hampton.
“There are no programs that really support people coming out of college, to really think about what it is to be, to really hone in on their values, have a year to reflect on being indoctrinated, not in a bad way, but in all of these different [academic] lenses. How do they want to form it going out into the world? [Place Corps] made me a better human and it made me more able to be grounded in who I am and move forward.”
During her fellowship, Sophia focused on sustainability and land stewardship, and the values and intentions underlying these interests, and facilitated tree-planting on a portion of Hawthorne Valley’s acreage. The relationships Sophia formed during the fellowship have become foundational in her life, and have been guiding voices on her path post-fellowship.
“We’re all best friends and want to do something similar in the future, have land together, or some sort of project because of the trust that we were able to build with each other through [Place Corps].”
Following Place Corps Sophia spent a year working in regenerative farming in the Hudson Valley. She observed the critical need for legislation to enable regenerative agriculture on a larger scale, properly house farmers, and support sustainable and respectful land use. In light of these observations, Sophia decided to pursue a dual degree in environmental studies and law as a two-fold path to addressing these issues on a policy level.
“I got really interested in land access and land tenure and property while I was at Place Corps. I started applying to grad school because I [felt] ready to take everything that I’d been simmering with and keep moving towards something.”
She has since been immersed in graduate studies through a dual degree program between Vermont Law School and Yale School of the Environment. Her graduate research is focused on interrogating the field of agroforestry in the northeast in relation to climate change, private land ownership and social change. During her time at Yale she has been working at the Community Economic Development Clinic and the Chester Agricultural Center around the issue of farmer housing. She intends to return to the Hudson Valley after graduating to contribute to her home region's transition to a more just and sustainable economic, food and agriculture system.
“I’m very committed to the northeast. I think staying accountable to my place, and not looking elsewhere for things is important. [ At Place Corps] I was really able to develop my ethic around why I actually think it's important that young people stay and have opportunities in the place that they call home….I hope that I get to start some kind of legal clinic in the northeast that supports some kind of cooperative work, particularly for farmers. There’s starting to be a lot of excitement around cooperatives in the Hudson Valley and I want to support that.”